Foldable metal furniture



Dec.v 27, 1938. u. K. JOHANNSEN FOLDABLE METAL FURNITURE Filed Dec. 17, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3 tor m.mmmw U90 JOHANNSEN I (Ittorneg 1938- u. K. JOHANNSEN FOLDABLE METAL FURNITURE Eiled Dec. 1'7, 1937 t e 1 v 4 .r 2 a e h S 2 Zmnentor uno K. JOHANHSEN Ottorneg Patented Dec. 2 7 1938 2 ,5

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,141,415 FOLDABLE METAL mm'ruan Udo K. Johannsen, Cortland, N. Y. Application December 17, 1937. Serial No. 180,418

Claims. (01. 155-55) This invention relates to certain novel strucwhile Figs. 10 and 11 correspondingly show the tural improvements directed to a folding metal same joint in folded chair position. chair or the like portable folding furniture of Fig. 12 fragmentally presents a modified back which the leg understructure and the back are frame structure. 5 adapted to collapse upon each other when not Referring more specifically to the drawings, 5 extended for use. Chairs of the kind herein del0 collectively represents a yieldable U-shaped vised are more particularly intended for service base frame preferably but not necessarily formed in households, also in schools, hotels, theaters from high carbon tubular steel to impart a limor the like auditoriums. In collapsed condition, ited amount of resiliency to my seat when loaded 10 my folded chairs may be compactly stacked for in use. Said understructure may c p a pair 10 storage on trucks. of spacedly aligned floor contacting rail compo- The present folding chair or the like device esnents l l a I? that y e Slightly ed i e sentially comprises a. seat and a back member a common pl andOf Which n ing ends that may be folded in superimposed relation, and may be integrally interconnected by the yoke- 15 further provides for arelatively yielding-seat unlike -m r T r tive opposite It derstructure or U-shaped base frame preferably ends of the rail components H and I! are a pformed from metal tubing or t equivalent 1y upturned to erect thereon mated-leg compothereof in modernistic fashio t m m a pair nents i4 and- I5 of which ,the free terminal reof yoke interconnected floor contacting foot comgiolfls y be laterally inset as at A and [5A ponents and mated upstanding leg components,- relative to the width spacing given to the floor 20 of which latter the free terminals are respec contacting rails. The upper ends of said legs retively equipped with knee joints Such knuckle spectively carry a kneelike knuckle joint such as joints may be operatively spanned by a U-shaped and frame having an upholstered back. If desired, The complementary back section or frame I8 the rear edge of my seat panel may be provided of my foldable cha1r may be given a similar but 25 l a m 'reyersed U-shape to comprise a pair of seat car- 32 z fi gg g fi 2 21;; gggfggggg? y to rymg rails l9 and 20 that in unfolded position The object of my improvements is to provide lie in substantial parallelism over the foot rail components II and I2. The free terminals of for a low cost, sturdy and comfortable foldable metal chair structure of the character indicated guich seat mus respectwely cooperate with the so that possesses minimum of articulated oints l6 and H. The rear end of said seat rails cmm points and one that when folded can be are sharply bent to comprise the back uprights com actly stacked Ior stem 6 2| and 22 of which the yoke region may in turn d h i 1s t t 1 f be cross-connected by an integral tie piece 23 as m 19 m n 0 er 5 mo in Fig. 1, or by the upholstered back panel 24 35 tures designed to facilitate the end in view and all f hich, 8 an be i t d t d itself 1n the Fig. 12 manner. In the latter disg x i zg t W n e closure, a non-continuous flexible back frame Shets of z j' g gi i W0 made from duplex strap irons or laterally yieldg a 9 us 0 able strip stock 25 is resorted to in lieu of an 40 f re lm n m q i integral tubular structure. In either case, the 40 Fig. 1 represents perspectlve View my back panel may be fixedly held in place by any erected chair with its seat panel lowered into suitable means, preferably by th r w 26, operative position, while Fig. 2 is a similar view The upholstered t pane1 28 may b fixedly s ow the Seatpanel raised rearwardly toward or tiltably applied across the base rails l9 and 1135 back I 20, it being preferred to provide for an apertured 45 Figs- 3 a d respectively P an elevatlonal seat bracket 29 with a pintle 30 entered therem and a Side o the Fig. 2 disclosure. through and having pintle ends that are re- 5 details en arged scale, apintle D ceived within tubular seat rails as in Fig. 5. t O for m untin y raisable e t panel as Such disposition permits the seat panel to be taken-along line 5-5 of Fig. 1. raised from its operative Fig. 1 position into that 6 Figs. 6 and 7 respectively show a front and 9. shown in Fig. 2, which initial tilting also faciliside yiew of my stackable chair in its folded tates' the folding of my base and back frames. position. I The back frame may be bodily swung about Figs. 8 and9respectively detail aknuckle joint its knee joints l6 and I! throu h the dotted as herein used in its unfolded chair position, shift position of Fig. 4 so that the folded frame 55 may ultimately assume the nested l-like relationship represented in Figs. 6 and 7. After being thus folded and shifted through more than 180, a. plurality of these chair frames may be compactly stacked as indicated by dotted outline in Fig. '7 and stored away in a suitable rack or the like carrier having rollers thereunder. In

the last named figure, the seat panel 28 when tilted, is made to lie above the plane of the base rail components H and I2 while the back panel 24 lies therebene'ath.

The special disposition given to my stop knuckle, joint is conducive to a close stacking in the manner herein contemplated. Tojthis end,

the knuckle pivot 3l is kept well forward of the leg axis by the distance designated J in Figs. 9 and 11 so as to exceed the diametral size of the tubular leg I 5. Each such knee joint when embodied as a forging, preferably comprises abutting complementary flttings 32 and 33 of which the flattened leaf extensions are respectively'provided with an enlarged, medial stop lug such as 34 or 35 that integrally terminate in pluglike shanks 3G and 31. One such shank is adapted to be snugly entered into a tubular seat rail l9 or 20 and to be riveted, spot welded or otherwise secured therein, in which instance, thecorresponding shank is kept aligned with respect to its leafiike extension. In the mated joint fitting, its leaf extension is axially shifted in rightangular relation to the shank thereof and which latter component may be similarly received within the free end of an erected tubular leg such as I4 or IE.

When my chair is set up for use, the stop lug 34 rests upon the angular lug 35 but when the back frame is fully collapsed, a seat rail 20 will closely lie alongside its adjacent leg l5 as in Figs. 7 and 11 and thereby allow the seat rails l9 and 20 together with the back uprights 2| and 22, to unobstructedly pass between the leg components I4 and I5 into their respective folded positions.

In the present disclosure, the seat panel 28 is preferably made wider than the lateral spacing between its supporting rails I 9 and 20 so as to overlap the same. The forward swingingseat edge may alsobe given a curved lip formation as at 28A to conceal the knuckle joints l6 and I1 therebeneath when the chair is fully unfolded as in Fig. 1. The purpose of the leg ofisets I 4A and ISA is to provide for any needed augmented lateral spacing between the base rail components II and I2 with respect to the seat rails l9 and 20. In order to further stabilize such chair structure and improve its appearance, it is preferred to keep the length of the back tie piece 23 somewhat shorter than the pitch spacing allowed between the knee joints l6 and II. It will be observed that notwithstanding the use of such relatively wide seat and back panels, the arrangement of my bent tubing is such as to'allow the seat to unobstructedly enter between the laterally spaced leg components and i5 for snug collapse.

By suitably increasing the pintle projection J of 'Fig. 11, a wide seat panel that is devoid of any pintle such as 30, may likewise be collapsed in interposed relation between the carrying rails l9 and 20 and the mated base legs l4 and IS, in which event the latter need not be' offset as at A and- ISA. Y

As a further refinement, one or both of my stop knuckle joints may be equipped with retainlug means to allow the erected chair to be bodily lapse, when gripping the back panel. Such substantial parallelism latching device-is shown as-incorporated in the stop lug 34 by the use ofv aspring' actuated ball 38 that may be projectingly inset into a drilled hole 39, the hole mouth being slightly crimped frame forwardly, said latch may readily be disengaged for chair collapsing purposes.

When the seat panel is equipped with pintles such as 30 and a plurality of such chairs are linked together and set up in closely spaced rows as in an auditorium, the individual lifting of such seat allows the occupant to rise and step within the base confines so that other patrons may conveniently pass onward between such seat rows. Owing to the inbuilt resiliency provided in my jointed frame structure, the occupantmay without fatigue remain comfortably seated for a protracted period. The described knee joints are not only sturdy but when in operative position, serve to transmit a limited amount of base yield to the back panel in a manner substantially identical with that afiorded by a conventional unjointed framework of the modernistic tubular type. The present improvements are primarily directed to means for compactly storing away chairs of such conventional type when not in use.

It is believed the foregoing rather explicit disclosure makes apparent to those skilled in this art, the advantages afforded by my simple and low cost folding chair, it being understood that certain changes in the illustrative embodiments thereof may be resorted to in attaining a like result, all without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention heretofore described and more particularly defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Stackable folding furniture comprising a unitary yoke shaped base frame oflaterally yieldable metal stock including a pair of fixedly spaced floor contacting base rail components lying in whose corresponding ends are in unfoldedposition upturned into mated leg components, complementary knuckle joints respectively applied to each free terminal region of such leg components and which joints have their respective knuckle pivots located forwardly of the leg perimeter next adjacent thereto, a unitary back frame comprising a pair of seat carrying rail components upon which are erected interconnected upright components that are laterally spaced to a lesser distance than the afore-- said base rail components and having corresponding ends, of the respective seat carrying rails operatively attached to a diiferent knuckle joint, a seat panel carried between such seat rails, and a back panel mounted upon the upright components of the back frame, the latter frame being swingable about said pivots and serving to unobstructedly collapse the back panel into compact aligned relationship with respect to the base of such leg components and having their knuckle pivots located in an axially offset relation to the leg perimeter next adjacent thereto, a unitary back frame comprising a pair of seat carrying rail components upon which are erected interconnected upright components that are laterally spaced to a lesser distance than the aforesaid base rail components and have corresponding ends of the respective seat, carrying rails operatively attached to a different knuckle joint, a 7

seat panel mounted across the seat rails, and a back panel fixedly mounted upon the upright components of the back frame, the latter frame being unobstructedly swingable about said pivots to fold said back panel between the base rails into substantial coincidence with the plane thereof.

3. A folding chair comprising a unitary tubular base frame including a pair of laterally spaced floor contacting base rail components lying in substantial parallelism whose corresponding ends are in lmfolded position upturned into mated leg tiltably mounted across the seat rails and which seat panel has a width greater than the aforesaid inturned leg terminals but less than the base spacing of the respective leg components, said back frame being unobstructedly swingable about said pivots and serving to enter the seat panel between said legs when the back frame is swung into folded position.

' 4. A folding chair comprising a. unitary tubular base frame including a pair of fixedly spaced floor rail components lying in a common plane whose corresponding rail ends are in unfolded position upturned into mated leg components, complementary knuckle joints respectively applied to each free terminal region of such leg components and which joints have their knuckle pivots located in an axially offset relation to the leg perimeter next adjacent thereto, a unitary back frame comprising a pair of seat carrying rail components upon which at corresponding ends there are erected interconnected upright components and having the other rail ends operatively attached to a-different knuckle joint, a back panel fixedly mounted upon said upright components, and a seat panel tiltably mounted across the seat rails and the width of whichpanel is smaller than the lateral spacing given to the fioor contacting rail components of the base frame and enterable between the chair legs, said seat panel in folded chair position being disposed to one side of the aforesaid plane and the back panel being oppositely disposed relative thereto.

5. A folding chair comprising a unitary base frame including a pair of fixedly spaced floor contacting rail components whose corresponding ends in unfolded position, are upturned into mated leg components, a knuckle joint including com-' plementary fittings for each free terminal region of the respective leg components and which Joints have their knuckle pivots located in an axially offset relation to the legperimeter next adjacent thereto, a unitary back frame including a seat panel and a back panel and which frame is operatively attached to both of the knuckle joints; and latchable retaining means disposed between the complementary fittings of one such knuckle joint, said back frame upon release of the retaining means being unobstructedly foldable about said pivots with respect to the base frame for stacking purposes.

'UDO K. J OHA NNBEN. 

